VIM Tips

Select

• toggle character selection: v
• toggle row selection: shift+v
• toggle block selection: ctrl+v

Copy

• Copy the whole line: yy
• Copy from the cursor to the EOL: y$
• Copy selected text: select the text then y

Paste

• Paste one line below the cursor: p
• Paste on the line of the cursor (push down the current line): shift+p
• Paste onto the selected text (overwriting them): select the text then p

Delete

• Delete the whole line: dd
• Delete from the cursor to the EOL: shift+d or d$
• Delete selected text: select the text then d

Search

• Find the text at the cursor: *
• Find a string /someText<ENTER>
• Find a string (case insensitive) /someText\c<ENTER>
• Find and place the cursor at the end of the string /someText/e<ENTER>

Replace

• Replace the character pointed by the cursor: r then the new character
• Start overwriting mode: shift+r

Substitute

• Substitute the character pointed by the cursor: s then the new character
• Substitute all occurances of a string: :%s/pattern/newString/g
• Confirm each substitution for all occurances of a string: :%s/pattern/newString/gc
• Substitute the first occurance of a string from every line: :%s/pattern/newString/
• Substitute all occurances of a string from the selected text: select the text then :’<,’>s/pattern/newString/g

Capitalize

• Change the case of a character pointed by the cursor: ~
• Toggle between upper and lower case for selected text: Select the text then ~
• Change to uppercase for selected text: Select the text then shift+u
• Change to lowercase for selected text: Select the text then u

Find matching bracket

• Find the matching bracket pointed by the cursor: %

Open files

• Open the file where its path is pointed by the cursor: gf
• Navigate the directory structure to locate the file: :E<ENTER>

Split window

• Horizontal split: :sp<ENTER>
• Vertical split: :vsp<ENTER>

Indentation

• Indent the line where the cursor is placed: >>
• Indent the selected lines: select the text (lines) then >>

Get the unicode value of a character

• Unicode value of the character pointed by the cursor: :asc<ENTER> or ga
• UTF-8 value of the character pointed by the cursor: g8

Move the page

• Move the page so that the cursor is at the top of the screen: z<ENTER>
• Move the page so that the cursor is at the bottom of the screen: z-
• Move the page so that the cursor is in the middle of the screen: z.

Move the file from one window to another

• Move a file from the left window to the right window (vertical split): ctrl+w shift+l
• Move a file from the right window to the left window (vertical split): ctrl+w shift+h
• Move a file from the top window to the bottom window (horizontal split): ctrl+w shift+j
• Move a file from the bottom window to the top window (horizontal split): ctrl+w shift+k

Error list

• Open the error list after compilation: :cw
• Go to the next item in the error list: :cn

xxx

• xxx:
• xxx: